Do you know the story of Jean Moulin and his art gallery in Nice?

We know him as a war hero, but did you know that Jean Moulin had been a gallery owner in Nice to cover his clandestine activities as a resistance fighter? As we commemorate the Victory of May 8, 1945, an exhibition can be discovered on rue de France not far from where he had set up his art gallery. On view until September 15.

It was in 1943 and at 22 rue de France that Jean Moulin acquired the Romanin gallery. Even if he was a lover of modern art, the latter mainly served him to cover his numerous trips. He calls the gallery Romanin, because that is the name under which he produced drawings and watercolors as a teenager. A passion for this senior official. “As a child, Jean was only truly wise when he had a pencil in his hand. He was very talented“,testifies his sister, Laure Moulin to France Culture.

Romanin is the name of a castle in the Alpilles.

I didn’t know it was so easy to do your duty when you’re in danger

This idea of ​​exemplary simplicity consisted of calling on the greatest painters. With his accomplice Colette Pons, they solicited the greatest like Henri Matisse or Pierre Bonnard for exhibitions.

In this place he united his two passions, art and the defense of France.

Jean-Marc Giaume Deputy mayor in charge of commemorations – city of Nice

The first exhibition took place on February 9, 1943 and brought together painters like Raoul Duffy and Suzanne Valadon. An extraordinary moment during which a very surprising event occurred.

The portrait of General Pétain would have collapsed to the ground with a crash! Urban legend or true historical moment, we will never know.

Jean-Marc Giaume, deputy mayor in charge of commemorations for the city of Nice

Not only did this art gallery allow her to make acquaintances in the world of resistance, but also, as a former artist, she had real legitimacy.

Among the guests at the opening, some knew the ins and outs of this vast illusion, and there were especially the others, blinded by the opaque veil that Jean Moulin had created around this structure.

Above the gallery, the apartment at 22 rue de France in Nice served as a hideout for General de Gaulle’s clandestine activities. The gallery and the apartment had several exits and this is why Jean Moulin could go there every month, in complete safety.

Born in Béziers in 1899, the one who was the youngest prefect in France at the time, being named prefect of Aveyron at only 38 years old, was also called Rex, a name that circulated in the corridors of the resistance but also in those of the Gestapo. Just like Joseph Mercier, a name he chose in order to keep the same initials.

It was during a new exhibition presenting in particular the works of Picasso and drawings by Renoir that Jean Moulin was conspicuous by his absence. And for good reason, he had been unmasked.

He would have called his associate and friend Colette Pons and said this fateful word to her.sell.” A coded message that meant his cover was compromised. Colette will close the premises and protect the works.

Far from knowing everything about Jean Moulin’s life, but sensing the danger, the latter had complied immediately by putting the key under the door.

It was a dark period in the history of Nice but which also earned honors for the people of Nice who had shown solidarity.

Jean-Marc Giaume, deputy mayor in charge of commemorations.

In May 2013, Daniel Cordier, secretary of Jean Moulin based in Cannes, who was unaware of the identity of his boss, throughout the Second World War revealed how he had learned that Rex, leader of the internal resistance, was in fact Jean Moulin.

Rex, Romanin, Mercier, Moulin… a was arrested on June 21, 1943 in Caluire near Lyon.

The Lyon Center for the History of Resistance and Deportation is devoting a major exhibition to him through testimonies from his relatives and supporters, called The paths to freedom.

We discover invitations and posters to the exhibitions held at the Romanin gallery in Nice.

Or letters sent to his family. Very personal documents which allow us to better understand this war hero, first president of the National Council of Resistance.

Like this one, referring to his house in Saint Andiol in Bouches-du-Rhône (now a museum):

Jean Moulin died on July 8, 1943 near Metz following torture in a convoy bound for Germany. An ordeal that he had suffered in the company of several of his comrades.

The open-air exhibition can be discovered at Place de la Croix de Marble in Nice.